


a murder of crows

by pandoracorn



Series: DR Birthdays 2018 [6]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Post Game, V3 spoilers, birthday fic, character introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:31:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandoracorn/pseuds/pandoracorn
Summary: Crows were such weird creatures. That much she knew, from observing them outside her bedroom window so often.--Now that things had calmed down a little, she's given a chance to think and breathe.





	a murder of crows

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARUMAKI!!!! BLESSED GIRL I LOVE YOU I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY SOON
> 
> I was originally going to use this concept to write my first P5 fic, but I couldn't pull off the idea with that game - not yet - and it was perfect for Maki so!! here we go!
> 
> I'm still playing v3 and haven't got too far so some characterisation may be pooey, but!! yes
> 
> Posted before 2/2GMT bc I’m love maki and also I’m v tired

Crows were such weird creatures. That much she knew, from observing them outside her bedroom window so often. They were in groups, social creatures, smart enough to use humans for their own but somehow dumb enough to get stuck between a fence. This is the thought she had, as she watched the bird struggle, tugging and clawing at the two planks of wood it had somehow got itself stuck in between.

 

Soft, red eyes blinked as she continued to watch the bird, pondering it’s caws for help in silence for but a moment before finally she reached out and grabbed its plump feathered body, taking care not to grab it so hard that it hurt the thing, before gently - so gently - twisting it and releasing it from it’s inanimate and easily avoidable captor. Holding the crow in her hands, Maki inspected its neck - slightly bruised, even under a black collar of feathers - by turning it in her hands, watching it keep a beady eyes fixed onto her person. Did it judge her, a much larger and stronger foe who had the power to crush it right now in its vulnerability, kindly, or was it planning to gather its friends and peck her to death while she slept under minimal sheets? Only the mind of a crow could judge her fate, especially so the crow she was carrying inside her house, hiding it under her school jacket as she quickly shuffled upstairs, as to not be seen.

 

Once her door had been shut behind her, she finally let out a sigh she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and finally let out the bird that tried to fly away, not getting very far initially before it simply stopped and began to walk around her bedroom floor, inspecting it almost meticulously, like something stuck up and way more important that it actually was. It picked at the floor with its claws, before hopping around, and looking up at her as if it wanted something. Maki looked back at it, before walking over and shutting her window, both so it didn’t leave before she was done making sure it was OK and just so… it wouldn’t leave her. She turned around again, shivering slightly as the last of the cold air travelled away from her, tickling at the back of her arms as she took off her jacket, noticing the bird staring up at her with black, beady eyes, somewhat curiously. It hopped closer to her in a cautious manner, hopping away again when she began to walk towards her bed, sitting down on it and letting out a small sigh. The bird still kept its gaze on her, she could feel its black eyes not move from her person, as it kept hopping around on the floor, the sound of its claws indicating such. 

 

Taking care not to scare the poor bird, Maki grabbed it by its body again, wrapping her hands around his wings as she had done before as she lifted it to sit on her lap. She kept a hold on it with one hand, gently rubbing it’s back with a finger on the other hand, whistling a few times until it began to reply. She moved her hand to gently scratch the crow’s back, watching it shiver as her nail gently traced down its spine, before she finally moved the hand holding it away, finding that now, it wouldn’t fly away, and would instead stay put, sitting in the little dip it had made in her skirt as she sat on her bed, watching the bird turn its head and inspect the room around it from a greater height.

 

It wasn’t tidy, nor was it a mess either, just… in between, in a weird way. There were things thrown around, sure, but not so much that it was an issue, and some things seemed out of place, but they would be put back soon, when she got the impulse to clean up again. Her bed was unkempt, with her blankets tossed to one side and her pillows askew, but again, it wasn’t so much of an issue that it was distracting. Beside the bed was a set of drawers, one of them pulled out as she had forgotten to close it after a brief shower the night before, and the top clutter with miscellaneous things; bracelets, a notepad, her phone, and a photo frame with herself, a shorter girl and a boy in a baseball cap.

 

The crow made a small, sneeze-like noise, and Maki almost laughed as it placed its slightly outstretched wings back to its sides.

“Well,” she mumbled, to the crow and to herself, “that was  _ clawfully  _ rude of you, wasn’t it?”

...Why did she make that joke, that was not only awful and a terrible pun, but no one but herself was around to hear it. It was stupid, it was dumb… and yet, she found herself smiling, ever so slightly.   
The crow looked back, hopping up and trying to turn around in her lap, its claws digging into her legs through the fabric of her skirt, yet, she didn’t move. She’d felt worse.

“What? No need to be so  _ cawtious _ , dear.”

Another terrible joke. What was with her? Why was she giggling? And why did it hurt, laughing like this, knowing that this was not the time for laughter, knowing that there was no one to laugh along, knowing that people were gone, never to see her progress?

 

A knock on the door.

“Harukawa-san?”

She gripped the crow on impulse, almost startled.

“...Saihara.”

She placed the crow behind her, gently wrapping her discarded blankets around it to keep it hidden from the ‘detective’s’ eyes, as it didn’t protest, aside from a quiet caw. Then, she rose to her feet, and opened the door, growing serious and solemn once more.

\--

It had been a week since the smart yet stupid crow - Nebulae, as she’d called him - had been taken in by the so-called assassin. He was making a great recovery, and was even slightly domesticated, whistling back when Maki whistled to him. Almost as if they were talking, like friends did. After he finished picking at the seeds n the spoon she gave him that afternoon, she looked over to the window and sighed to herself, knowing that eventually, he had to leave. Well, didn’t everyone? Whether they left alive, or dead, by choice or by force-

 

She shook her head almost violently, before unlocking her window and pushing it open. Then, she grabbed Nebulae from his perch of her bedside set of drawers, as gently as she had done when she first found him, and placed him on her windowsill.

They stared at one another for a moment, before he turned to the open window, spread his wings, and…

Just like that, Nebulae took flight into the sky, his figure growing more distant with every second that passed, with every flap of his wings and every cold breeze that blew past her.

\--

Later that evening, as the sun began to set and paint the sky orange, and she finally took her hair down, letting it brush against her ankles, she heard a tap against her window. And another. And another. By the time she paused, the tapping had stopped, as so was almost sure she was mistaken. Despite this, though, she couldn’t stop herself from walking towards the window, looking out of it, her eyes widening at the sight she saw.

Now, normally it wasn’t unusual to see birds gathered along the telephone pole right outside her tiny apartment - in fact, it was almost staple. But never on the scale of a large murder of crows that now sat there, watching her from the window as she opened it and placed her hands on the windowsill, almost sticking her head out of the window to get a closer look.

 

And she smiled. She smiled and felt almost happy to see these crows had come back to see her.

 

Some things leave forever, but they will never forget the things you did for them.


End file.
